Develop September: Ubisoft – Conqueror of Worlds

Ubisoft: Conqueror of Worlds. This month’s issue features an exclusive look at how Ubisoft operate their studios in South East Asia with unparalleled access following a recent trip to the region. Jem Alexander also has some words of wisdom from CEO and founder of Ubisoft, Yves Guillemot.

Closer to home we have a 1-2 on the racing grid as Sean Cleaver and John Broomhall speak to Slightly Mad Studios about Project Cars 2. Sean finds out the ins and outs of how you test an immersive sim racer and John discovers the efforts made to make the game sound authentic.

We also speak to immersive theatre group Punchdrunk, talk publishing with PlayStack CEO Harvey Elliott and become the Bat with our post-mortem of Batman: Arkham VR.

You can read this issue on your browser or mobile device here. If you’re not already subscribed to Develop, you can sign up for as little as £35 to ensure you receive your monthly look at global games development.

Got feedback? Are you a developer who wants to get involved in future issues? Feel free to email us at jalexander@nbmedia.com. (Dog gifs still wanted but Destiny 2 related gifs are more than welcome)

Here’s a full overview of what to expect this month:

• Yves Guillemot: Jem Alexander returns from his trip to Ubisoft’s Southeast Asian studios with words from the founder and CEO of Ubisoft.
• Global Collaboration: Ubisoft has offices in China, Singapore and the Philippines to name but a few. Jem Alexander visited some of the studios in the region and speaks to the studios heads to find out how so many work together as one entitiy.
• Quality Careers: QA has been seen for years as an entry level games job, but there’s so much more to it. Sean Cleaver speaks with QA and localisation professionals to find out how perceptions are changing around QA.
• Project Cars 2: Not one but two interviews this month. Sean Cleaver speaks with Stephen Vilioen and Rod Chong about how you QA test and immersive racing sim, and John Broomhall’s Heard About looks at how audio for the game was created with Stephen Baysted.
• Punchdrunk: The Immersive theatre company is taking a look at how videogames can blur the lines between the digital world an reality.
• PlayStack: The UK-based games publisher has been making a lot of key hires lately, and the company is trying to revolutionise indie publishing. Jem Alexander speaks to CEO Harvey Elliott about the company’s philosophy.
• The Develop Post-Mortem: We’ve been the Batman for nearly eight years, but Batman: Arkham VR brought us closer than ever before. Sean Cleaver speaks to Rocksteady’s Sefton Hill about how this passion project became an award winner
• Opinion: Joining Jem and Sean to share their thoughts this month is CEO of social VR company Atom Republic, Tanguy Dewavrin who looks at the potenital of VR as a social platform and how developers, and users, are only just started to understand it.
• Ask Amiqus: Business manager Liz Prince looks at how developers should approach the QA and localisation process before thier game is ready to be released.
• Recruiter Hot Seat: In the hot seat this month is Seismic Gmes who are looking for new engineering talent in sunny California.